Graduate Programs in Epidemiology and Biostatistics

The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics currently only offers emphasis areas underneath the Master of Public Health degree. The degree is granted from the College of Public Health and has concentrations within all 5 departments within the college. Concentrations within the department are Biostatistics and Epidemiology.  Honors undergraduate students may pursue a combined BS in Statistics and MPH in Biostatistics. All MPH students must take five core courses in public health, additional core courses in their concentration, plus a number of electives. Core courses in public health include Introductory Biostatistics I, Environmental Health, Introduction to Epidemiology I, Health Policy and Management, and Health Promotion and Behavior. Biostatistics has five core courses including Introductory Biostatistics II, Introduction to Epidemiology II, Mathematical Statistics, Survival Analysis, and Clinical Trials. Courses in Biostatistics and Statistics may serve as electives for the concentration in Biostatistics. The core in Epidemiology includes Introduction to Epidemiology II, Introductory Biostatistics II, Molecular Epidemiology and Chronic Disease Epidemiology. The department collaborates with the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, Arts and Sciences, and Ecology to offer a variety of electives for the concentration in Epidemiology.


Biostatistics

The biostatistics concentration focuses on biostatistical methods and their application to public health problems. Training focuses on data quality control, presentation and interpretation of statistical results, statistical computing, design of public health surveys, experiments, and clinical trials, and statistical modeling of public health and biomedical data. Students will work with the consulting service and interact with investigators in the biomedical sciences. Students with quantitative backgrounds (computer science, mathematics or statistics) are preferred for this concentration. Electives may be chosen from the College of Public Health and from across the UGA campus. The program also requires an internship.

Epidemiology

The epidemiology concentration offers a focus either in general epidemiology, global infectious diseases (in collaboration with our Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases), or molecular epidemiology (in collaboration with our Genetics Department). Students will learn how to design, conduct and analyze clinical investigations and research studies in public health. Students with strong lifescience backgrounds (pre med studies, microbiology, molecular biology, and genetics) are preferred for this concentration. Courses include molecular epidemiology, epidemiology of chronic diseases and advanced biostatistical methods. Electives may be chosen from the College of Public Health and from across the UGA campus. The program also requires an internship.